


Real Winter

by TwilightsFlamingRose (VarjoRuusu)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, I needed Sora trapped in a snowstorm and Axel coming to rescue him, KH 3, KH III, KH3 AU, Kingdom Hearts 3, Kingdom Hearts III, M/M, Roxas isn't back, Sharing Body Heat, Snow Storms, mild misunderstandings, or something, trapped in a cave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 03:45:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18189350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VarjoRuusu/pseuds/TwilightsFlamingRose
Summary: Sora returns to Arendelle only to find they really do have winter without Elsa's help and now he's lost in a snowstorm. So, naturally, they send the fire wielder to rescue him before he freezes.A fluffy interlude with requisite snark.





	Real Winter

**Author's Note:**

> This popped into my head when I played KH3 the other day, and I set out to write it about a week ago. Rather fluffy, somewhat pointless, just very much self indulging in my random random ship.

“I hate snow,” Sora muttered, rubbing his half bare arms as he trudged through knee high snow drifts.

Donald would be laughing at him again, if he were there, teasing Sora about being an Islander and not equipped for the cold. Well, Sora wasn't equipped for the cold, he'd come back to Arendelle expecting it to still be summer, he hadn't though to pack the large coat he had wanted on their first visit. As it turned out, Arendelle did have seasons, even though Elsa had gained a solid grip on her powers, and they were in the middle of real winter now.

To make matters worse, Sora had come alone, thinking he would just drop in and say hello while Donald and Goofy were busy with an errand for Master Yen Sid and Sora had a little free time. Stupid mistake.

The storm was getting worse and Sora didn't know how much farther it was to the village. He missed Agrabah, he missed the heat on the sand, and he knew he couldn't stay out in the snow. If he did he was going to freeze, because at this point he was pretty sure he was lost. He'd just have to find someplace to take shelter and try and find his way when the storm cleared.

There! There was a dark shape against the snow, a wide shadow that might just be a cave. As Sora got closer he saw the cave was wide, almost thirty feet across, but only about ten feet deep. It wasn't perfect, and the wind could get inside far too easily, but it would give him some protection and it would just have to do. Sora found the most concealed spot near the back wall and curled into a ball, trying to conserve as much of the heat he had left.

It could have been minutes or hours later when he heard a noise outside, almost like someone shouting. He shook his head, groggy, imagining he must have at least dozed. The wind was worse outside the cave and the rocks around him were cold. His muscles were stiff and he'd moved past the point of shivering.

“Sora!”

He peered into the whiteout snow, wondering if he was imagining things as he rubbed at his arms again.

“Soorraaa!”

There it was again, louder this time, and Sora cautiously and stiffly moved closer to the mouth of the cave. He though he saw a flash of red in the snow.

“Sora! Where are you!”

This time it was almost on top of him and Sora jumped up, waving his arms as he stumbled toward the front of the cave.

“Here! I'm over here!” he shouted and a moment, and a swirl of snow later, there was something incredibly warmed pressed against him and he staggered.

“There you are you spiky little twerp,” a fond voice said and Sora leaned back enough to discern that the flash of red he'd seen was hair.

“Axel?” he grinned, ignoring the fresh shiver that ran through him.

The redhead was a grinning, wrapped up in light winter gear, looking so warm that Sora suddenly remembered just how cold he was. A gust of wind and snow blew into the cave and Sora shuddered. He would have collapse if Axel hadn't caught him.

“Woah, hey,” Axel said, scooping Sora up in his arms and moving toward the back of the cave, out of the wind. “Is this that snow witch again?” he asked as he settled them against a boulder, wrapping his arms around Sora.

“J-j-j-ust wi-i-i-int-t-t-er,” Sora managed through chattering teeth, leaning closer to the warmth radiating off Axel. He may not have been able to conjure fire in his hands any longer but he still retained the ability to manipulate his own temperature somewhat, and to Sora's frozen skin, he felt like a furnace.

“And you didn't pack a coat,” Axel sighed.

“Couldn't even light a fire,” Sora mumbled, growing sleepy. “Nothing to burn.”

“Hmm,” Axel mumbled. He glanced around the cave, noting that they couldn't get very far inside because it was so shallow, and the wind was still blowing in on them.

There was no question of leaving in this storm. Axel had made it through because he could warm himself enough to be all but impervious to the cold, but Sora was verging on hypothermia already and taking him out in the snow would probably kill him. They would just have to wait it out here.

Sighing, Axel summoned his keyblade and placed it on a stone in front of them, closing his eyes and concentrating until the blade burst into flames, giving off light and heat and warming the space around them. It wouldn't last long, and he could only do the spell so many times before it exhausted him to the point where he wouldn't be a help to anyone, but he could manage something.

Moving carefully, he shrugged his coat off and got Sora's arms into it, zipping it up around the smaller boy, for once glad that Sora was so much shorter, because the coat that came mid thigh on Axel went past Sora's knees and wrapped him up like a blanket.

“Hey, spiky, talk to me,” Axel said, tugging off a glove with his teeth and laying his bare hand on Sora's cheek. His skin was cold as the ice that surrounded them and Axel suddenly began to worry seriously.

“Sleepy,” Sora mumbled, stirring slightly and curling closer to Axel.

“Don't sleep, Sora,” Axel said sharply, jolting Sora awake. “You're hypothermic, if you go to sleep you might not wake up.”

Sora grumbled under his breath and shifted, his cold hands searching for the bottom of Axel's shirt. The redhead would never admit it later, but when Sora found what he was after and got his freezing hands under Axel's clothes and against his hot skin, Axel shrieked, loudly.

“'m not gonna die,” Sora mumbled and Axel found he couldn't stay mad for the cold hands stunt with Sora curled up in his arms shivering.

“You better not. If you do, your boy-toy will kill me,” Axel huffed, shifting slightly and settling more comfortably against the rock. Two feet away the fire on the keyblade began to die down, leaving the metal glowing for a while before the cave went dark.

“Riku's not my boy-toy,” Sora mumbled and Axel snorted.

“You didn't even have to ask who I meant,” he pointed out and Sora huffed.

“You think it's the first time I've heard that?” he griped and Axel smiled.

“Probably not,” he admitted.

“Definitely not,” Sora muttered. “You're really slow. Xigbar, Demyx, Marluxia, Luxord, _and_ Larxene already made that joke,” he said, ticking off names on his fingers. “I think Zexion would have, but I didn't get a chance to find out and I'm not sure Ienzo is quite that rude anymore.”

Axel snorted, his whole body shaking as he chuckled. “Damn, I'm not usually that far down the list when it comes to making witty remarks.”

“Eh, I didn't meet you first though,” Sora yawned. “If I had, I'm sure you'd have managed to get a crack in almost instantly.”

“No sleeping now,” Axel reminded him and Sora nodded, turning his hands around and pressing the backs of them against Axel's stomach. This time Axel managed to bite his lip to keep from shrieking.

They fell silent for a while after that, the only sounds around them the blowing wind and the crackle of fire when Axel lit the keyblade again. Sora shifted a little, so he was less curled and more tucked against Axel and forced his eyes open to watch the redhead.

Axel was watching the snow, his arms still tight around Sora but his mind obviously somewhere else. He was still radiating heat, but not as much as he had been before he took the coat off and gave it to Sora. For a long time Sora watched as every breath sent up a plume of dense steam, vanishing into nothing as the green eyes followed swirl after swirl of snow. For perhaps the first time, Axel's face was open, betraying some of the emotions that he usually kept so closely guarded, and Sora didn't need to ask to know he was thinking about Roxas.

“Do you miss him?” he asked quietly and Axel sighed.

“Every day,” he said just as softly.

“I'm sorry,” Sora whispered, his fingers curling around Axel's shirt unconsciously, gripping the fabric tightly in his hand.

“Don't be,” Axel said, pulling Sora tighter against him, resting his chin on Sora's hair, damp now that the snow in it had melted.

“Axel,” Sora said softly, taking a deep breath and sighing. “I never had a chance to tell you, but when I was inside those dreams, I saw Roxas.”

“Oh?” Axel said, his voice casual, but Sora could feel how the other man had gone stiff.

“He gave me his memories,” Sora said, knowing there was no easy way to say it, to tell Axel that he knew everything that had happened between him and Roxas, every intimate detail, even if a lot of it had faded now. To be fair to Roxas, he had no idea Sora was going to wake up and come face to face with the man that featured in a lot of those memories, neither of them had known Axel was alive, not after Sora saw him fade to nothingness between worlds.

Sora had know that Axel and Roxas had a past, from their time in the Organization, but he'd had no idea just how heartbreaking it was, and Sora had struggled with some of the memories, especially the feeling of utter emptiness when Roxas had been trapped in the virtual Twilight Town with no memories and no explanation for why it felt like he was missing half his heart.

“I told him that I wanted him to be his own person, have his own chance at happiness,” Sora said softly and Axel smiled.

“You're a good kid,” Axel said and Sora poked him.

“Not a kid,” he pointed out. “Haven't been a kid in a long time. Besides, I'm almost nineteen.”

“Ah, yes,” Axel nodded. “The wise and illustrious nineteen. That was...let me see. Seven years ago? Eight?”

“Shut up,” Sora grumbled and Axel smiled.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, squinting at the snow outside the cave. It was starting to get dark, and dark meant it was going to get even colder.

“Cold,” Sora mumbled. “Tired. Scared.”

“Don't be scared,” Axel said concentrating all his energy on warming his body, trying to keep Sora's temperature up. “I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”

Sora shivered, curling closer. He remembered that day, what seemed like an age ago, when he'd been trapped between worlds, lost and outnumbered, and then suddenly there was Axel. He'd been desperate and exhausted, and even though he hadn't trusted the fire wielding redhead, he'd been grateful for the help. It had nearly broken his heart when Axel had started to fade away.

“You only say that because of Roxas,” Sora sighed, surprised when Axel huffed and tugged him away so their eyes could meet in the dim light.

“That's not true, Sora,” Axel said, his green eyes darting between Sora's blue ones and Sora swallowed.

“Isn't it?” he challenged quietly. He didn't know why he was pushing, only that something had curled around his heart when Axel had appeared out of the snow and he was done trying to ignore the feeling that had been there since that day in the Between, a feeling that, while sympathetic, had nothing to do with Roxas' memories and feelings locked away inside his heart.

“No,” Axel said, determination and confusion present on his face in equal measure, like he couldn't quite understand his own words, but was determined to say them anyway.

“Axel...”

“Can we talk about this when we're not stuck in a cave, in a snow storm, and in danger of freezing to death?” Axel said and Sora frowned.

“Axel, I'm the only one in danger of freezing, and if you've got something to say, then say it. I've spent the last four years of my life fighting to save all the worlds, save my friends, save people I don't even know! I've lost so many people, through stupid mistakes, through being too weak to beat back the darkness, and to stupid people who think they have to sacrifice themselves to protect me! So if you've got something to say to me then just say it!”

Sora took a breath, his eyes locked with Axel's, which were wide with surprise, before narrowing in...anger, irritation, Sora wasn't sure, and he didn't get a chance to think about it further, because the next thing he knew, Axel's hand was tangled in his hair, tugging him forward and crashing their mouths together.

Sora gasped, his own hand reaching up to steady himself by wrapping around the back of Axel's neck and Axel took advantage of his open mouth to slip his tongue in, drawing a groan from Sora as the kiss deepened.

“You,” Axel growled, “Annoying. Little. Brat,” he continued, each word coming between kisses as he tugged Sora closer, so there was no space left between them and Sora nearly whimpered when Axel nipped at his bottom lip.

“Me?” he gasped, his fingers digging into Axel's hair and tugging lightly. “You're the one that's been moping around for weeks. You think I didn't notice you watching me?”

“That's exactly the point,” Axel grumbled between kisses, shifting them so that instead of being curled against his chest, Sora was now sitting on his lap, one leg on either side of his hips. Even like that, Sora was still short enough that Axel had to tilt his head back to be able to get at the spot just under his jaw and start nibbling a small bruise.

“What was the point?” Sora asked a few moments later, when he managed to recover some of his thoughts. He certainly wasn't cold anymore, he could say that much.

Axel nipped at his neck one last time and then pulled back, putting some space between them. There was enough light in the cave still that Sora could see Axel's eyes were dark, the pupils blown wide, and his face was flushed, his breathing as heavy as Sora's was.

“I was watching _you._ I don't look at you and see Roxas, I look at you and I see you. There's a big difference,” he said quietly.

Sora wondered if he was ever going to catch his breath again. Probably not, if Axel was going to keep saying things like that. And certainly not if Axel was going to keep kissing him like that.

“Axel,” Sora gasped, wrapping both his arms around Axel's neck and tugging his head up, kissing him almost desperately. A moment later Axel pulled away and sat back.

“I love you,” he blurted, eyes wide.

Sora paused, blinking as he tried to catch his breath.

“You?”

“I love you,” Axel said again, more sure of himself this time.

“Oh,” Sora said quietly. “I...had no idea.”

“Didn't exactly want you to know, did I? I thought you and Riku...”

Sora chuckled, shaking his head and running his fingers fondly through Axel's hair. “Maybe once, there was a chance for that, but we've changed so much that it just...we're still best friends, we're still so important to one another, but that faded as we got older, and I think it's for the best.”

Axel sighed and looked away. “I'm not going to forget Roxas, but...I would like it if you...I don't know if you feel that way about me, or...”

“Axel,” Sora said, stopping the other's babbling, tilting his face up so their eyes met. “I feel that way. Let's try it, huh?”

“Okay,” Axel said with a soft smile. “Let's try it.”

 

~≈~≈~≈~

 

“What am I missing? What happened?” Riku asked, looking between them as they came down the gummi ramp, his eyebrows raised.

“Oh, nothing,” Sora shrugged. “Just, you know, made out with Axel in a cave, in a snowstorm, while half frozen.”

Alex choked on the breath he'd just taken, sputtering and coughing behind them.

Riku's eyebrows rose even higher as he turned and looked at Axel, face now red as his hair.

Sora smirked.

“Good time?” Riku asked finally and Sora grinned like a shark.

“Good,” Riku said, slinging and arm around Sora's shoulder and leading him away from Axel. “Now-”

“Oh no,” Sora said, ducking out from under Riku's arm. “You are _not_ giving me the talk, Riku, absolutely not. I know what I'm doing, thank you.”

Riku shrugged, then grinned, his eyes turning mischievous. “Do I need to give Axel a talking to?”

“Nope,” Sora grinned. “It's...” He sobered, looking up at the sky and the clouds before sighing. “Complicated. But...we're good.”

“As long as you know you can always come to me, with anything,” Riku said and Sora nodded, smiling.

“Of course, Riku. You know you can come to me with anything, too.”

“Yeah. I'll warn you though, he's not getting off that easy,” Riku said, jerking his head at Axel, who seemed to have mostly recovered.

“Gonna tease him forever?” Sora asked with a chuckle.

“You have no idea,” Riku grinned. In the background Axel sputtered indignantly, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.


End file.
